Optical systems are becoming more prevalent in modern communications systems as the demand for high-speed and high-efficiency communications increases. Optical systems can employ lasers to generate optical signals. The speed at which lasers can be modulated can depend on a number of factors, such as differential gain and/or resonator cavity length, and can typically achieve very high bit rates (e.g., 40 Gbps). However, electronic processing devices can typically be much more limited in bit rate, such that the bandwidth of optical communications systems can often be limited by the relative slower electronic processing devices.